Dons V Hertz

[scotfree]

If we play like we did against St Johnstone, we have no chance of a win. We need to be much sharper to take any points.

[manc_don]

It's good we've started the campaign without conceding, but you're right. We need to take these chances or we're going to be on the end of too many draws or worse even, defeats.  Hopefully they find their shooting boots! Hopefully O'Connor keeps his place too...

[BigAl]

Second game attending in four days 

 

In

A90

South Stand

A96 to visit family

2-1 (Rooney & Burns)

[Madbadteacher]

I'd like a nice 5 or 6 nil skelping of them but I'll settle for any win at all!

[Jute]

Apart from the first game at Tynecastle Hearts pretty much had our number last season and knew how to prevent us from playing our usual game hopefully new signings will mean we will not as out muscled as we were last season. Hearts fans in the work have been less than impressed with their team so far this season however I can see it being close game with few chances.

 

In

Archies

Y

Mother in Laws 60th party

1-1 McGinn

[tom_widdows]

Once again the delivery (particularly at set pieces) is shocking.

 

Is this some sort of protest about not having proper training facilities?

[Jute]

Well that was shite again. Hearts came up to shitfest and we seemed to think that playing what looked like 6 in the middle and one up top was the way to combat it. As Tom said above our final ball and especially set pieces were woeful. Only positive is we never looked like losing.

[Madbadteacher]

Buy a shit load of forwards and can't score?

 

[tom_widdows]

Perhaps it shows how much they rely on Hayes?

[BigAl]

Well that was shite again. Hearts came up to shitfest and we seemed to think that playing what looked like 6 in the middle and one up top was the way to combat it. As Tom said above our final ball and especially set pieces were woeful. Only positive is we never looked like losing.

 

Going to disagree on two points Jute.

Firstly although I would agree that for the bulk of the game we never looked like losing, the chance that Watt ballooned over the bar five minutes from time could well have cost us the game.

On the point about only one positive from the game I will give you another, namely Anthony O'Connor, head and shoulders our best player on the park. Flatly refused to panic under pressure and his timing in the tackle is first class. Think we might just have got ourselves a player there 

[LA-Don]

Well, here's my take. I'm pissed off. Hearts should have won with the Watt chance towards the end. While we didn't look like losing we didn't really look like scoring. We are so predictable. We rely so much on Hayes and McGinn, and I'll say Burns is probably a similar winger type, and when that gets shut down we just lump it up the park. With Hayes hurt more emphasis is on McGinn, a guy who barely had a summer break and who, as I've said before, will burn out and have an average season. If we are going to go long then we need numbers up the park for the second ball and we don't really do that.

 

We have little or nothing in central midfield which is the most important are of the field. We've had two 0-0 games for a reason. We failed to beat Maribor but should have, struggled against Ayr Utd to an extent, we're not the finished article. We don't have a commanding boss in there and we don't have a creative spark. Until we have a flair player in there teams will shut us down. We need a central threat to draw teams inwards to give the wide guys space or pick penetrating passes. Right now that's not happening from what I see.

 

Not sure if Andrew Shinnie is the answer but we need a guy with skill who can beat a man or play a killer pass. That's not Jack, Graeme Shinnie, or McLean right now. We also need a tough defensive mid to protect the back 4, particularly if we are going to encourage the full backs to push on which we do. Jack and Shinnie don't seem to be doing that and we're getting exposed. We look vulnerable on counter attacks and Hearts showed that today in the second half when they had space and numbers but fortunately didn't capitalize. Our central defenders get exposed because of the lack of protection infront of them.

 

What is Graeme Shinnie's role? Is he the new Willo Flood? What is Jack's role? I don't quite understand what we're trying to do in the middle of the park but there's little or no threat. All we seem to do is get the ball wide and rely on wide guys beating a man (individual creativity), Logan overlapping, or we get a shit cross or the ball lumped long. When Shinnie plays well going forward it's usually when he ends up on the left. If that's the case stick him back at left back, or play him wide mid while Hayes is injured.

 

Until we fix the middle of the park, both with steel and with creativity, we're going to be vulnerable defensively and predictable and limited in attack. Teams know what we do because we're most the same team that rely on Hayes, McGinn, and Rooney, and while we can pass and look pretty we have no central threat or penetration and we're relatively easy to defend because we don't stretch teams.

 

Shockley alone up top makes us worse because we just end up going long ball, hit and hope. If he plays, go two up top with Rooney. DM said after the game today Jack and Shinnie were gassed. No surprise there, a lack of squad depth in CM.

 

I'm the most optimistic fan normally. Must be the time of the month....

[rocket_scientist]

Well that was shit. Season over already.

 

But some "optimistic" feel cunts will fail to see the reality.

 

It's staring every cunt in the face.

 

Last year I did a paper on "Mirrors and the Great Pretenders".

 

This was about performers.

 

"Fans" are worse, because most have never won fuck all and don't understand.

[Edinburghdon]

Well that was shit. Season over already.

 

Congratulations on avoiding a massive overreaction there. Top post from a top poster! 

 

Season over? After drawing with the 3rd & 4th teams last season? Ok...

[tlg1903]

I'm disappointed we have failed to get a win in the first two games but in the grand scheme of things I'm really pleased we are looking more solid at the back.  From what I have seen of AOC and Lewis they look a real finds!  A little perspective, we have just had two shutouts against teams last season that scored 16 goals against us accumulatively over 9 games.  Every regular on here said we need to strengthen at the back over the summer and that's clearly happened. 

[manc_don]

Its great to read that we appear to be much more solid at the back, but I really don't like seeing someone other than Shinnie at left back. I think someone else alluded to it either in this thread or another about our width. Him not playing there leaves as narrow and one dimensional. We seriously need to start a) creating chances b) taking them. It seriously concerns me that when Hayes is out, we always do fuck all. No point in having a striker like stockley if he's not getting any service whatsoever. How did burns play? Did DM sub him off again?

 

Nice to read elsewhere that Pawlett was motm. I was really surprised at his inclusion, maybe the benching is exactly what he needed.

[tlg1903]

As I understand it we are creating chances just not taking them manc

[tom_widdows]

As I understand it we are creating chances just not taking them manc

 

Not from what I've seen in last 2 league games

Free kick on edge of box = a) High and over bar, b) straight into hands of Goalie, c) Headed away by first defender

Corner Kick - Options b & C or d)over the top of everyone and out

Someone gets into crossing position in open play = A,B,C,D or E) cross blocked and out for thrown in.

 

Lots of the above with only about 2 ever coming to even a slight chance.

 

Rooney and co cant take chances if the ball doesn't reach them.

[Jute]

Its great to read that we appear to be much more solid at the back, but I really don't like seeing someone other than Shinnie at left back. I think someone else alluded to it either in this thread or another about our width. Him not playing there leaves as narrow and one dimensional. We seriously need to start a) creating chances b) taking them. It seriously concerns me that when Hayes is out, we always do fuck all. No point in having a striker like stockley if he's not getting any service whatsoever. How did burns play? Did DM sub him off again?

 

Nice to read elsewhere that Pawlett was motm. I was really surprised at his inclusion, maybe the benching is exactly what he needed.

 

Pawlett was nowhere near man of the match. Pished cunts in corporate were taking the piss I suspect.

[LA-Don]

We definitely had chances in Europe against teams with limited knowledge of us but against teams who know our players so well we seem pretty easy to shut down. We're predictable and limited.

[Jute]

As I understand it we are creating chances just not taking them manc

 

Would say that only really applied to the Ayr game when we did create several good opportunities. Against Saints and Hearts I cannot think of anytime we seriously troubled either keeper. Loads of possesion but as Tom says we created very little from it.

[LA-Don]

Also agree we look better at the back with OConnor in there, but not convinced with Considine or Reynolds at left back. If we can get the necessary addition(s) in the middle of the park I'd be inclined to go with a back three of Taylor OConnor and Reynolds and Shay and Shinnie as wing backs. They're fit and fast enough to get forward then get back and support a back 3. Still, that can only happen with a holding mid protecting in there which we currently don't have - 5 in the middle would allow Jack and McLean to play right and left centre which is probably more suited to them. Both I think are being asked to do a job which is not their natural preference, square peg in round hole, which leads to the abuse for not performing to a high standard.

[BigAl]

Pawlett was nowhere near man of the match. Pished cunts in corporate were taking the piss I suspect.

 

Should have been O'Connor by a proverbial mile

[Jute]

Should have been O'Connor by a proverbial mile

 

Would have been a fair shout.

[BobbyBiscuit]

O'Connor was very good, he got Taylor out of jail a couple of times after typical indecision from the useless galloot.

 

Why, particularly for a home game, is Rooney sitting on the bench? Last year DM thought Goodwillie was a better option, this year seemingly Stockley. Neither will ever score the goals Rooney does. Defenders and opposition managers are terrified of Rooney because he scores goals.  Hearts must have been delighted yesterday when they got our team sheet.

 

In saying that, we created next to nothing, but a lot of that was because of how direct we were going at times.

 

I thought Pawlett did ok for us, he certainly had more positive runs than his team mates. 

 

If McLean was dropped for his level of performance (rather than rested) he should not have appeared for us yesterday. He's not bringing us anything just now.

 

Reynolds commitment to not looking to where he's playing the ball is seriously worrying. He's competing better than he has in the last 18 months but his distribution is horrendous.

 

I like the look of Burns and was disappointed he was hooked as early as he was.

 

With so many new attacking players I can understand experimenting, but we have to be cleverer about it than this.

[Reidzer 1314]

Another game where we controlled the play but failed to really create a worthy goal scoring chance.

 

Only real positives to take was that O'Connor played really well I thought, he certainly bailed Taylor out a few times. Jack I also thought had another decent game.

 

The substitutions were a strange one, McLean at the moment is really not playing well and it is clear to everyone that the centre midfield operates better when he is not in it, so why McInnes put him on in CM was a strange one.

 

Burns looked decent as did Storey when he came on. Rooney never really did much but again the lack of decent service was shocking. Our crossing was atrocious.

 

How Pawlett was named MOTM I will never know, he had a decent opening 10 minutes and was then a spectator. In fact I had actually forgotten he was even on the pitch until he made a run in the second half and then it was clear he was breathing out his..

 

Maybe Pawlett is leaving and that is why, other than that it was a decision that totally baffled me. In fact, Pawlett starting the game baffled me.